Holden Caulfield Catcher in the Rye, has shown to have a few eccentric tendencies, however Holden has shown to be a fairly normal teenager. Nevertheless, Holden seems to be seen as border lining on insanity due to his tendencies of mass amounts of anxiety and depression, which were strange for the time. Yet, Holden’s understanding of the world and how the world sees him is a factor that is often overlooked. Leads Holden is a normal teenager going through adolescence and is simply misunderstood by society because of his depression, lack of experience with grief, and warped view of the world. First of all, Holden’s depression, throughout the book Holden has shown to hold large amounts of depression that is caused by his detachment from society, pursuit of youth, and neglect from his parents.…
Adolescence is a difficult time in anyone's life. Many teens are caught up between trying to be an adult and wanting to stay a child. There are certain characteristics that reflect which part a teen is stuck on, such as maturity. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden the narrator is greatly lacking in maturity.…
Throughout this novel, Holden’s innocence is portrayed with the use of sexual experiences, use of language as well as adult desires. In this whole novel, Holden is suffering from the harsh reality of growing up. He is stuck in between being young enough to enjoy life as a child, but having…
At the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye Holden is a adolescent trying to act like an adult. He does things that an adult would do like smoking, and drinking, but at his core he doesn 't want to grow up. This is why Holden refuses to apply himself in school, and constantly drops out. Holden is also always looking for someone else to connect with, he is desperate for some sort of affection. This seen many times in the book, an example being when Holden invites a random Taxi Driver out for drinks, just so he can have someone to spend time with.…
“What lasts is what is written. We look to literature to find the essence of an age.” This is a statement by Peter Brodie. It is basically stating that we can see how the past was by what is written. I do agree with this statement, for years now literature has been able to give us clues from the past.…
Holden is an interesting character who seems to be holding onto his youth. There are many situations where the actions he takes suggest that he is trying to remain youthful. For example, the way Holden found it acceptable to speak to his deceased brother much like the way many small children talk to an imaginary friend. The manner he requested Stadlater ask Jane if she still keeps her kings in the back row when playing checkers rather than requesting him to ask her a serious of questions related to how she is currently doing. The title The Catcher in the Rye symbolizes Holden’s dream of catching children if they run off the cliff at the end of a rye field as they play.…
Holden is unable to move on from his deceased brother. Because of that, his life is being held back as he is unwilling to grow up. A large part of growing up is accepting change and learning how to move on. Because Holden can't do either, he is pushed farther away from the adult world and is stuck being the “Catcher in the Rye”. So instead of joining the other children into the jump to adulthood, Holden holds back because of his fear.…
As humans we constantly find ourselves facing the fact that we are growing older and accepting the responsibilities that come with age. Sometimes we see teenagers, young kids and even some adults fall into a place where they are emotionally stuck in the past. In the catcher in the rye, Holden Caulfield is a character that portrays an irrational fear of growing up through displays of angst such as; Childlike behaviour, rebellion and sheltering/protecting others (young children). His fear and dread are normal reactions to adulthood and the phoniness he has come to understand it entails. In the novel the Holden tries to act mature but in his attempts he reveals the dept of his immaturity.…
To teach or not to teach Teenager, a word that was first incorporated into an everyday American’s vocabulary in the 1920s, due to the fact that there was not a word describing the adolescence ages of 13 to 19. While you do not have the responsibilities of being an adult, you also do not have the freedoms of being a child anymore. It was also brought into existence because this time period in an individual's life is when they are thought of as very rebellious. Teens want to drink, smoke, and even try to change the world, even if they are not even twenty. In Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, is a teenager struggling through life and wanting more.…
The internal conflict within Holden’s mind is a struggle between succumbing to his fall from innocence or changing by saving the youth, which shows he has been unable to maintain a psychological well-being. Even though Holden is presented as a mentally challenged, untrustworthy person who seems unfit for the role of the catcher in the rye, with a task to prevent children from losing their innocence and becoming like Holden, he still has the desire, passion, and will to take up that role as the savior from the…
Many people do not struggle with going into adulthood. People are wanting to be able to be an adult and do what they want. They do not want to follow other adults rules or their parent's rules. But in J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield does not want to go into adulthood. He does not want to deal with all the adult responsibilities.…
The author Salinger, makes Holden Caulfield this obnoxious, bad mouthing, cynic teenager. “...I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.” (Salinger p 13). In the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden goes through many obstacles and is trying to find himself. But during his exploration,we realize that Holden is growing up and is becoming a man.…
But, the reason Holden isn’t like the children running around is because he is not completely innocent. He is also not off the cliff because he does not fully identify as an adult. So, he is on the edge because he has and can see both sides of the story and he wants to preserve the children. The Catcher in the Rye is Holden’s way of preserving innocence in children and showing to the reader’s clues of his mentality and innocence. This is like Holden’s view on the first child since the children make him understand his innocence in both passages and with this, it shows his…
And instead of acknowledging that adult hood scares him. He invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of hollowness and hypocrisy and the world his sister lives in -childhood is a world of innocence, curiosity and honesty. Holden explains that adults are inevitable phonies, and the worst part of it is, they can’t see their own phoniness. Phoniness stands as a symbol of everything that’s wrong in the world he is forced to be in. It provides him an excuse to withdraw into his judgemental…
Significant Quotations “I was surrounded by phonies... They were coming in the goddam window.” (pg 13) “Like hell it is.” I took it off and looked at it. I sort of closed one eye, like I was taking aim at it.…